July 11, 2025
Seoul – Former President Yoon Suk Yeol skipped his uprising hearing on Thursday, only for hours of concern about the evidence being detained in another case, triggering a sharp dispute over the legality of his sudden health-related absence.
The special lawyers’ panel urged Seoul’s central district court to take appropriate measures against Yoon so that the former president would not miss the criminal trial hearing he was supposed to appear as a defendant. It also decided to call the arrested former president at 2 p.m. Friday.
The special lawyers team said: “The defendant has no justifiable reason. We ask the court to insist that the defendant prevents such incidents from happening again. If the defendant is absent again, we ask for measures such as forcing the defendant to attend a hearing.”
Yoon’s attorney argued that he filed a notice of absence for health reasons, citing that he was not suitable for trial hours after being detained.
Seoul Central District Court approved a warrant requested by a special lawyer while investigating allegations including abuse of power. Yoon was formally detained earlier Thursday four months after his release in March, when a warrant related to the uprising had expired.
“The defendant was detained for less than eight hours. Even if he was notified by fax or telephone to appear in court, we would question whether such a subpoena was legally valid,” Yoon’s legal representative said.
Now, Yoon is expected to face at least 20 criminal trial hearings this year, with potentially detaining for up to 18 months as his case passes through court action.
The court issued a 20-day detention order before the special attorney sued. If prosecuted during detention, it can be held for up to six months during the district court trial, and can be held for six months during the appeal and Supreme Court stages.
The former president will now attend a criminal trial hearing at the Uiwang Seoul Detention Center in Gyonggi Province. After the court approved his detention, Yoon had verified his personal information, was sent out a prisoner number, and took his photography.
The presidential security personnel previously assigned to the former president have also been revoked.
The former President’s Special Treatment Act stipulates safety and provides protection to the former President and his spouse during times necessary. However, since he has been detained and transferred to the Department of Corrections, he no longer applies for such privileges.
Yoon is expected to travel to and from the court without safety personnel, accompanied only by correctional personnel and transported in a convoy.
Yoon was protected by Presidential Security Bureau officials during his 52-day detention period from mid-January to early March – as he was awaiting a ruling from the Constitutional Court that formally confirmed his impeachment in early April.
The investigation by the special consultant team is expected to gain momentum. A team of special advisers led by Cho Eun-Suk is investigating potential violations related to the former president’s brief martial law declaration.
Yoon’s alleged treason is one of the main allegations investigators will focus on, as the special counsel team did not include such suspicion in the latest warrant requests, as there is still a large amount of material to investigate.
The proposed treason charge is alleged to be allegedly ordered to deploy military drones on Pyongyang, a plan to justify his martial law orders that North Korea has taken active action.
Further investigations into former Prime Minister Han Ya-Su are also expected as he was appointed as an accomplice trying to prepare false public documents.
The special consultant had previously revealed that Yin created an official martial arts document after the martial law was announced on December 5, 2024.
Although the National Assembly lifted the martial law order within a few hours, Han and then Defense Minister Kim Yang reportedly applied to sign a review document to make Yoon’s declaration of martial law appear to have been issued through proper legal process.
Kang Eui-Gu, who was then secretary of the presidential office and drafted the document, reportedly testified in a special advisory investigation that the document was discarded at Han’s request and Yoon’s approval. The decision violates Article 82 of the Constitution, which provides that the President’s actions be executed in writing in accordance with the law and shall be signed by the Prime Minister and the Cabinet members concerned.
